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[Lissar]

Sounds awesome. Love the Radiata Stories approach.

That was my favorite part of that game, and I always hoped that more JRPGs would take that approach. Even better would be if their schedule was randomized. Also really hoping that all of the town NPCs will be unique and interesting (like in Xenoblade.) I won't hold my breath though.

 

[APZonerunner]

I only wish the visuals were better, especially after seeing Hitman.

We were discussing this earlier, and, yeah - I'd love to see an FF game using the tech off IO or one of the Eidos studios.

 

[ULTROS!]

Nice interview guys.

Lol towns are boring but at least it's coming back to XIII-2... That and the entire game is bigger than XIII.

I hope the trophies are also "easy" to get like XIII's.

 

[Seda]

Nice interview guys.

Lol towns are boring but at least it's coming back to XIII-2... That and the entire game is bigger than XIII.

I hope the trophies are also "easy" to get like XIII's.

I hope that there is at least one interesting antagonist. Usually FF is pretty good at this, so hopefully XIII was an outlier in that regard.

Not sporting your new avatar yet, I see .

 

[Diablos]

Kagari/APZonerunner, excellent interview!

I have gone from being cautiously optimistic about FFXIII-2 to very excited; hype level just shot up big time.

It seems like they took fan criticism very seriously and are righting some wrongs while leaving the good stuff intact. This is the kind of Square-Enix I respect and it is what I had been hoping for out of the sequel. I'll admit I was doubtful that the devs would take it this seriously.

All the other info that has been reported elsewhere sounds awesome as well.

The visuals seem kinda meh at certain times, although we have seen very little. Quite frankly what had been demonstrated has a hollow/incomplete vibe to it from a design standpoint anyway. It could (and I'd say most likely will) improve. Or not. I don't really care, it looks good enough to me to be honest.

Based on everything I've read so far it already sounds better than FFXIII, and I loved the game, flaws and all. I know lots of people hated it.

But yeah, give yourselves a pat on the back. Thanks for making me hyped about a new FF again.

 

[gembel]

1280x720 resolution on xbox

Didn't S-E shopped the buttons on the FF13 screens? (xbox buttons on ps3 screens)

 

[The Praiseworthy]

I hope the trophies are also "easy" to get like XIII's.

I want to enjoy getting the Platinum in a FF game... not to torture myself with it.

 

[Astery]

I think if we created towns in the same way as we did for Final Fantasy VII-IX, it would be quite boring, and so it is very difficult.

wat.

 

[APZonerunner]

It's worth saying they were both very humble and seemingly very aware of all the criticism levelled against the game. We took it in turns going back and forth with questions, and they were often chuckling and laughing at our questions before we even finished them, hearing and understanding key english words and knowing what was coming when it was translated. They're very aware.

 

[Crash Station]

wat.

Yeah, what's up with that? "It's hard to make traditional HD towns, so here's a bunch of stuff that's harder to make than what's in traditional towns."

 

[bobbytkc]

wat.

They are just saying that they added AI to townsfolks now.

Anyways, this seems like step in the right direction. FF13 was the biggest disappointment I've experience this gen. They have a lot to live up to before they restore my confidence in them.

 

[Lain]

Nice interview, made me even more interested in the game, if that was even possible.
I get the impression it needs some more proofreading though? Some stuff sounded weird to me.

 

[Diablos]

wat.

wat what?

Towns from the PS1 era copied and pasted into a new game would be kind of weak.

Bear in mind they still put emphasis on towns and such, and in a new way two console generations later, which is healthy and to be expected. I don't see what the big deal is.

 

[Appollowexx]

Nice interview.

I like the idea of collecting monsters - I think they are trying to jump on the Monster Hunter / Pokemon bandwagon, the same way their choice system is very similar to Mass Effect. It's a shame their system looks nowhere as in depth as in those games.

Still a bit of extra depth to the game is welcome.

I'm very sad to hear they may be cutting down on CGI movie sequences and in-engine cutscenes though. I would like more of those if anything. The ingame cutscenes may save them space but as we've seen from the trailer, they look infinitly worse than the pre-recorded in-engine stuff we got so much of in XIII.

 

[Negator]

I am totally okay with Monster Rancher Fantasy XIII-2 as long as it is optional and I can have a third real character.

 

[ULTROS!]

wat.

Boring = Difficult for them I guess.

 

[Dennis]

Well, they are saying (mostly) all the right things so I shall be cautiously optimistic about this.

 

[ZephyrFate]

I am totally okay with Monster Rancher Fantasy XIII-2 as long as it is optional and I can have a third real character.

Sounds like that isn't gonna happen, and if it does, not till much later in the game.

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

Something to note. In the trailer from the PSStore, all the button prompts are DS3, even the scenes where the regular trailer has 360 buttons.

 

[Nezabyte]

Sounds like my kinda game - glad they're making it more open this time (as it should have been).

 

[Despera]

Dat interview.

The RDR bit is confusing though. So instead of having proper side missions, we're going to have random ones? Or maybe what they're trying to say is that we'll have regular quests and some random ones in-between?

Sounds like they improved almost everything from XIII. Monster capturing could be fun too.

 

[Adamm]

Great interview

Good news that there will be towns, even if they are "traditional" final fantasy towns. It just want a hub every so often during the game that I can walk around & talk to people.
They also make the world seem so much more real - like everything isnt just revolving around you.

 

[nelsonroyale]

I only wish the visuals were better, especially after seeing Hitman.

I'm not following...the original FFXIII looked stunning. It could use some more effects and improved textures though.

Flipping between this and the Versus trailer, the engine looks like it has diverged quite a bit. At least, the visual style in versus is different. The modelling of the city and indoor environments is much better. The field scene looked early though

 

[badcrumble]

Monster hunting as a sidequest will be pretty cool if there are some 'ultimate' monsters for each of the six command styles (e.g. a malboro for debuffing enemies) or anything of the sort that are a challenge to track down and provide a serious bonus to your party.

I'm pretty sure the story will still be terrible, but I really don't care about that (plenty of FF stories are bad and yet the games can still be a lot of fun it done right). I'm glad they're getting a chance to fix their mistakes with the first game; FFX-2 is a load of fun and it'd be good to see Toriyama shoot for something that enjoyable.

 

[Crazetex]

(e.g. a malboro for debuffing enemies)

YES. Incredibly wasted opportunity if we don't get to use Bad Breath.

I'd also like Bombs as ravagers that literally explode for good.

 

[brotkasten]

Great (and unintentionally funny) interview.

... but one thing I can tell you is that for the first time in the Final Fantasy series, XIII-2 will have multiple endings.

I thought X-2 had multiple endings?

 

[LiK]

Great (and unintentionally funny) interview.


I thought X-2 had multiple endings?

Yea, two iirc

 

[badcrumble]

Yea, two iirc

They must mean two completely different endings, as opposed to the way FFX-2 handled it (three endings consisting of cutscene 1, cutscene 1+2, and cutscene 1+2+3 respectively).

 

[RPGCrazied]

Thanks for the interview guys! Seems like they are trying to change why people hated XIII. Good for them. Still nothing about the weapon system? Ugh, going to be a long wait for TGS. Other than that, looks solid! Also glad to know there will be more side stuff to do other than hunts. RDR style? That seems odd, but more variety is a good thing.

40 hours too? Sign me up!

 

[michaeltraps]

Great interview. Not as much "we can't disclose that right now" either, which is refreshing.

They definitely seem aware of the criticism the first game received and are on their way to rectifying many of those problems. Monster hunting/recruiting should be great, though I hope their are more than just 2 "human" characters. More stuff like that would be great.

Next, I'm really eager to see how they're handling the leveling and weapon upgrade system. TGS can't come soon enough.

 

[badcrumble]

My hope as far as monsters are concerned is that we can equip any of them that have ever been captured (as opposed to only the most recent six, or whatever).

 

[H_Prestige]

I have no faith in this team understanding open field game design and giving the player freedom to do what they want. This will probably be like FFX. Not as confined as FFXIII and there will be "towns", but still pretty bare bones.

 

[Huff]

Awesome interview. Was going to end up buying the game regardless, but now I'm starting to feel excited for it.

 

[Crazetex]

Monster hunting/recruiting should be great, though I hope their are more than just 2 "human" characters. More stuff like that would be great.

I'm hoping that you'll be able to assign them via paradigm shifts - for example, one is Noel/COM, Serah/RAV, Marlboro/SAB, and then you have Snow/SEN, Serah/MED, Flanbero/RAV. Assuming you do get more than the two annoying-looking teens, that is.

 

[Wilsongt]

I don't know how I feel about monsters as party members. It's one of the reasons why I was turned off by Dawn of the New World... I much prefer unique characters with stories involved with them as opposed to generic monster #989089.

The funny thing about that statement is... I love SRPGs, and in most cases, all of the characters are generic save a few. Heh.

 

[michaeltraps]

I'm hoping that you'll be able to assign them via paradigm shifts - for example, one is Noel/COM, Serah/RAV, Marlboro/SAB, and then you have Snow/SEN, Serah/MED, Flanbero/RAV. Assuming you do get more than the two annoying-looking teens, that is.

Yeah, it seems like this will be the case. Even if you have monsters for most of the game, then toward the conclusion of the main story (or even as optional side content) you can re-recruit the characters from XIII. Though, I'd rather have them more integrated into the actual plot, which probably wouldn't be the case if they were "optional."

Better yet, they join for character-specific plot points, level-up as usual, and available later for permanent recruitment (granted you even want them in your party).

 

[Edvardelis]

All the screens released so far are also bullshots... you should know that The game is much more rough currently. Muddy textures everywhere.

I'm also surprised the 360 version will still be 3-4 discs even though they claim they're cutting down on the FMV.

They may not have a choice. To keep the disc swapping to a minimum, the core files are duplicated on all the discs in a game like that. It's why you can boot off of Disc 2 if you're that far into the story.

Very interesting that Red Dead Redemption inspired them. I can see why.

 

[jorgeton]

Excellent interview. This game really has the potential to be incredible. I envision many a long night collecting monsters for the paradigm decks.

 

[Kagari]

I'm not following...the original FFXIII looked stunning. It could use some more effects and improved textures though.

Flipping between this and the Versus trailer, the engine looks like it has diverged quite a bit. At least, the visual style in versus is different. The modelling of the city and indoor environments is much better. The field scene looked early though

The real game looks a lot rougher than those screenshots will have you believe. The engine is really showing its age, or Toriyama's team might not know how to maximize it... who knows.

Versus XIII does look better based on the January trailer, but even then it's harder to tell without direct feed images.

 

[Josh7289]

Oh wow, I want to hear the music with the rapping in it (<- why does that sentence sound dumb...). Anyway I really like rap/hip hop music in RPGs, like Persona 3.

 

[jonnybryce]

I really enjoyed the interview. My only concern is the story and how it's executed. FF13's story was not only peculiar, it was told in a very fast, incoherent way. I spoke to a lot of people that just didn't understand what was happening and I myself had to put effort into making sense out of it all from the get go.

 

[nelsonroyale]

The real game looks a lot rougher than those screenshots will have you believe. The engine is really showing its age, or Toriyama's team might not know how to maximize it... who knows.

Versus XIII does look better based on the January trailer, but even then it's harder to tell without direct feed images.

Hmmm, the screenshots don't look as impressive as some regions in Cacoon though from the first game. It seems to me you are saying that this version has not added any improvements to the engine and is also in a rougher state that the original. Yeah, its been two years, so really there should be some improvements.

I don't think it looks weak though. I think it has its strengths and weaknesses. The modelling of the enemies has always been very good in FFXIII. I don't doubt the differences between versus and FFXIII will be similar to FFX and FFXII. Yes, FFXII lost some detail in comparison to FFX, but overall it was more impressive at its best. The final battle in particular was insane. I played Oblivion at the same time, and I thought that scene blew away anything in Oblivion.

 

[Dunan]

Kagari and APZonerunner, great interview!

I'm getting cautiously optimistic about this game -- Toriyama and Kitase really seem to have turned thing around and have developed a bit of humility. Good to see SE on the right track.

 

[toastyToast]

Good work with that interview.

They had to know that a question about towns was coming up. At least they didn't faff about and act like it wasn't a problem.

Has anything been mentioned about the economy? Crafting dem weapons was tedious as hell, probably what sours my experience with XIII most is the 30ish hours killing turtles to craft all the items.

 

[michaeltraps]

The real game looks a lot rougher than those screenshots will have you believe. The engine is really showing its age, or Toriyama's team might not know how to maximize it... who knows.

Versus XIII does look better based on the January trailer, but even then it's harder to tell without direct feed images.

Ugh, that scares me. Especially since I only own a 360 and I can only imagine how rough that will look. Everything from E3 was showing the Ps3 version, correct? Last I heard they were only showing the lead platform.

 

[Kung Fu Grip]

This has been the first time i've never been interested in a final fantasy before.

I've played everyone since FF7. I even bought a PSP just for crises core!. FF13 is a joke and this looks to be the same.

The hell have you done square? Please break apart from enix and go back to competing with each other. This whole shit is just........

 

[HamPster PamPster]

I demand a Red Chocobo that spams Chocobo Meteor

Oh and 100% agree with who ever said it above that each class needs an ultimate monster

 

[Kagari]

Ugh, that scares me. Especially since I only own a 360 and I can only imagine how rough that will look. Everything from E3 was showing the Ps3 version, correct? Last I heard they were only showing the lead platform.

They had both on hand. Both looked rough, but the 360 one did have a bit more aliasing and graphics seemed a little more washed out, and framerate was sketchy whenever it was raining. The private demo section with Lightning gameplay was PS3 only though.

Btw, I hate the rain splattering on the screen effect.

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

The details on how they're implementing towns sounds pretty cool. I love the idea of chocobos being everywhere, too. So far, pretty much everything said about this game is just increasing my hype.

 

[Magnus]

I think I've finally lost faith in the team's ability to create something as compelling as any of the FFs previous to XIII. The answers to so many questions in so many interviews are evasive, sometimes self-contradictory or just plain awful.

This HD town debacle is still such a laugh. And I love when FF devs add a new unique and obtuse name to a game feature that makes it sound like so much more than what it is ("Live triggers!" which are just fucking dialogue moments, lol)

Or when they introduce a 'new' gameplay concept that's so broad and obvious that it's a miracle that they think they're coming up with it for the first time. "Player-driven" gameplay. Like, fuck, what have you been doing this whole time instead? It's like they're learning gameplay lessons now that you'd learn in your first class on game design a decade before you to get to a project of this scale.

I never dreamed my little FF-fanboy heart would yearn for a WRPG more than the next FF. Skyrim makes me excited in a way I don't think another FF ever will. Christ.